The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press.
The Sunday Times quotes Air Malta CEO Peter Davies saying Air Malta should be in new shape by the end of summer. Workers have to be shed, all contracts and freebies are being reviewed, and new sources of revenue need to be tapped if Air Malta is to continue flying, Mr Davies and new Air Malta chairman Louis Farrugia say in their first interview since their appointments.
The Malta Independent reports that the government survived an opposition salary motion in parliament.
MaltaToday says a last minute amendment to an opposition motion prevented a PN meltdown. It also says that Gonzi's rating has plummeted as Muscat's soars.
It-Torca says the government is insensitive and heartless and should resign. It was reporting on yesterday's debate in parliament on the raise given to ministers.
Il-Mument highlights the government proposal, made in parliament yesterday, for Malta to adopt the House of Commons system on MPs' pay.
KullHadd says Gonzi and Co are to continue to take a €500 a week pay increase.
Illum says PM Gonzi avoided a humiliation in Parliament.
The overseas press
Al Jazeera reports several loud explosions from NATO airstrikes have rocked the Libyan capital while fierce fighting has erupted between government forces and rebels in Zawiya, an oil port town about 50 kilometers west of Tripoli. Libya TV said that "the imperialist aggressors" had bombed several sites in and around the Libyan capital, in the town of Yafran, then showed footage of what it said were children wounded in past NATO bombings. Associated Press reports Libyan rebels battled their way back into Zawiya, forcing Gaddafi's troops to close the vital coast highway and key supply route from Tunisia. The renewed rebel offensive marked a significant rebound for opposition forces which were crushed and driven out of the city nearly three months ago.
Gazete Ankara says voters in Turkey are going to the polls to decide whether to give Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan a third term in office. His Justice and Development Party (AKP) faces a challenge by the secular Republican People’s Party (CHP). The conservative AKP, which has Islamist roots, has presided over strong economic growth and a more assertive foreign policy during its eight years in power.
Corriere della Sera reports Italians decide in a referendum today and tomorrow whether Italy should resume its nuclear energy production. The government says 25 per cent of the country’s energy needs would have to be met by nuclear power by 2020. Critics say the Fukushima nuclear incident in Japan has turned public opinion against nuclear energy and could strike a new blow against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, still reeling from heavy local election losses last month.
According to Asia Times, thousands of people have staged anti-nuclear rallies in cities across Japan, as the country marked three months since the devastating earthquake and ensuing Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster. Prime Minister Naoto Kan visited part of the disaster zone where 23,500 people were killed or are still unaccounted for. He also attended a meeting with leaders in the port town of Kamaishi on ways to improve survivors' lives.
Avvenire reports that Pope Benedict listened to Roma people, more commonly known as gypsies, recount their way of life at a first-ever papal audience for them at the Vatican on Saturday, decried their persecution by the Nazis during World War II and called on Europe to help end centuries of rejection for the Roma people. About 2,000 Catholic Gypsies gathered in the Vatican's auditorium to hear Benedict lament that for centuries they have known "the bitter taste of not being welcome."
Il Tempo says some 300,000 people paraded through Rome yesterday celebrating the annual European gay pride festival, with many participants urging legislation recognising gay rights and calling for an end to discrimination. The colorful parade closed this year with a performance by Lady Gaga, who sang her hit single “Born This Way”, and singled out Poland, Russia, Lithuania and countries in the Middle East for restricting same-sex freedoms. Gay rights festivals were held in several European cities.
Mogadishu Post reports the head of Al Qaeda in East Africa, Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, has been killed in a shoot-out in the Somali capital. Somalia’s transitional government says DNA tests had confirmed his identity. Mohammed, the most wanted man in Africa, was suspected of having played a key role in the 1998 US embassy bombings in East Africa, which killed 224 people. He was also accused of attacking Israeli targets on the Kenyan coast in 2002.
The Washington Post says the United States have accused the Syrian government of creating a humanitarian crisis by its violent repression of the anti-government protests. Turkish official said more than 4,300 people have fled across the border into Turkey to escape violence. Human rights groups say security forces have killed more than 1,100 Syrian civilians in increasingly bloody efforts to suppress demonstrations calling for Assad's removal, more political freedoms and end to corruption and poverty.
Kyber Mail reports two bombs have exploded in northwestern Pakistan killing at least 35 people and injuring more than 100. The bombs were detonated minutes apart in a crowded supermarket in a residential area of Peshawar.
The International Monetary Fund is investigating a “significant” attack on its computer network. A spokesman declined to give details but IMF officials quoted by The New York Times said it was “a large and sophisticated cyber-attack”. Meanwhile, the Jerusalem Post reports that Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer has confirmed that he had applied for the position of head of the IMF, potentially posing a serious challenge to France’s Finance Minister, the current front-runner, Christine Lagarde. Fischer is also competing with Mexican Central Bank chief Agustin Carstens.
Anchorage Daily News says that as speculation mounted whether Sarah Palin would seek the Republican nomination to run for the White House in 2012, emails released by Alaska show she received death threats after she was nominated as Republican John McCain's running mate in 2008 presidential elections. The then Alaska governor also emerges as hard-working and very concerned about her image from the 24,000 pages of emails released under a freedom of information request.
El Pais reports that a German passenger stripped naked on an Iberia flight from Madrid to Frankfurt, forcing the pilot to turn the plane around so he could be removed. The airline said staff on board tried to dissuade him but he became aggressive and finally locked himself in the toilet. The pilot then decided to turn around and land in Madrid. Once on the ground, police came on board and "took him away". Police said the man was not drunk and they had no explanation for his behaviour.